Calendar

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense that played without Troy Polamalu for all but one series Sunday likely will have to do it again without him at least against the Chiefs, maybe longer.

The Steelers were mum yesterday on the results of the MRI on Polamalu’s left knee, and issued no prognosis, but the All-Pro safety joined his teammates for meetings at the team’s facility and it appears whatever reinjury there is will not end his season.

He left after the game’s first series, and the NFL’s fifth-ranked defense Sunday still rose to No. 2 in the rankings after they shut down Carson Palmer and the Bengals. They held Cincinnati to 218 total yards, the second lowest total of the season. They allowed only nine points on three field goals; the other nine came on a 96-yard kickoff return and one field goal after Ben Roethlisberger’s interception was returned to the Steelers’ 14.

Their defense might have played well without him, but I’ll take my chances this week. Polamalu is the type of guy that can change a game every time he is on the field and the Chiefs will have a better chance to steal a win with him on the sidelines.

Beyond trying to take advantage of the hole in the Pittsburgh secondary, the Chiefs will need to hit at least one big play on special teams… Or in other words just follow the Bengals script.